In 1920 Maurice Ravel's publisher asked him to contribute to an issue of "La Revue Musicale," which was dedicated to Claude Debussy. Although the 1st movement of Ravel’s Sonata was not in the main issue, it was included in a supplement as well as works contributed by Debussy’s friends Stravinsky, Satie, Dukas, Bartok, and de Falla. Later, the 1st movement of Ravel’s Sonata became a large scale four movement chamber music work; notably, it makes use of a more modern music vocabulary than found in almost any other Ravel composition.

This scholarly-critical edition, the first ever of Ravel's masterpiece, presents the work in two performing scores. It includes an introduction that reflects on Ravel’s work and rehearsals with violinist Hélène Jourdan-Morhange and cellist Maurice Maréchal. The source material for this new edition include the engraved copy, the personal autograph scores (with earlier versions of some passages) that were initially used to rehearse the work, and the first edition scores with emendations by Jourdan-Morhange and Maréchal. In the appendix, you'll find the original fingerings by the performers which are not found in the first edition. These fingerings reflect how Ravel must have heard the work in rehearsals, and as such are a document of early 20th century performance practice.

Note: The violoncello part does not allow for page turns in the first movement; therefore the edition includes an additional violoncello part in small print presenting the entire first movement on a double page without a page turn